BART workers paid well – but the most?

Are BART’s unionized train operators the best-paid transit workers in the nation? Are they in the middle of the pay pack?

It turns out the answer lies somewhere in between — and the debate over that issue is at the heart of the contract talks that have been dragging on all summer between the agency’s workers and management.

On the one hand, BART’s train operators come in no better than fourth in the nation in pay, and salaries for the system’s station agents lag far behind what Muni station agents make in San Francisco.

However, BART workers’ low-cost health care and lack of pension contributions and them in the top tier of transit agency workers throughout America, a Chronicle analysis shows.

A deeper discussion of whether BART board President Tom Radulovich is right when he says the system’s workers have “the best wage increases and benefits in the transit industry” can be found here.